September 2009 - Newsletter 92

Sherborne Christmas Concerts & New Year Party
The concerts are on the 18th and 19th of December, 8p.m. at The Digby Hall as usual. The Wag From Widecombe (Tony Beard) will be making a welcome return to keep us all in stitches and, of course, our friend Richard Helson will be there to play his fiddle and sing. Richard will also be at our New Year Celebration along with Phil Biggs on drums. This is on Thursday 31st.

Tickets will be available from the 1st of October and can be purchased from 'Rules' (opposite Marsh's Electrical) in Cheap Street. Alternatively you can buy them from our web shop, send for them via the PO Box or ring 01935 814611/814667 or 813890. Concert tickets are £7.50 for adults, £6 for children and senior citizens. New Year Tickets are £12 each.

Bring your own food for the New Year. Fatted calf to a packet of crisps. It's up to you. Please don't bring your own booze though there is a well stocked bar and relations with the bar staff can get a bit fraught at times. Let's start 2010 with a smile.

If you need a map to find The Digby Hall please don't hesitate to ask. We aim to please.

LPs to CD
Someone kindly pointed out that I had missed an LP from my conversion list in the May Newsletter. It slipped through the net. It was Dorset Style made in 1978 and the tracks are as follows: Country Style, The Juggernaut, Floral dance, It's Always the Right Time for Love, Watercress, The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun, Jolly Waggoner, Little Brown Jug, Wedding Song, All the Good Things, Where the Lilac Grows, John O'Dreams.

I have now put this on the computer and can make copies if you wish.

The other 20 are:

50 Stone of Loveliness 1969

Who's A'fear'd 1970

Keep A Runnin' 1970

Our Friends 1971

The World of Irish Dancing 1971

Dorset is Beautiful 1972

Mornin' All (backing Bob Arnold, Tom Forrest of the Archers) 1972

All at Sea 1973

Up in Arms (with Sherborne Town Band) 1974

The Yetties of Yetminster 1975

The World of The Yetties 1975

Let's Have a Party 1975

The Village Band (with Sherborne Town Band) 1976

Up Market 1977

In Concert 1979

A Little Bit of Dorset 1981

A Proper Job 1981

Cider & Song 1983

The Sound of Cricket (with John Arlott) 1984

The Yetties 1986

There's not room in the Newsletter to put every track for all these LPs but I do have lists I can send you if you are interested. Ring me at 01935 814611 or write to PO Box 3, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3AL. I don't keep them in stock but give me a couple of days and I will make them for you. The cost is £6 per CD (including post & packing). Cheques to The Yetties please at the PO Box.

An A to Z of the Accordion
For Accordion enthusiasts there is a series of 4 hardback books on the instrument. They cover all aspects for all players no matter what standard you have achieved and all genres and styles of playing. There are biographies of the best performers (including a certain Pete Shutler) and lists of Festivals etc. In fact there are over 900 articles and biographies and over 700 photographs.

Doing the Dorset Dirt
After last years mud bath and with the weather forecasters promising us a splendid summer my friends and I decided to have another bash at this 50k off-road cycle ride thinking that it couldn't be as hard going as 2008. However, mother nature has, so far, been unkind to us and our Thursday night rides have been through puddles and poop. So wish me luck on September 13th. The charity I'm riding for this year is 'The Children of Fiji' which is run by two friends who live in the village of Cattistock. They visited Fiji some years ago and realised that the kids out there had virtually nothing in the way of educational facilities so they decided to adopt them all and try to give them a better start in life. Since then they have build bridges, piped in water, etc. to schools scattered around the many islands as well as supplying pencils, pens, paper and other basic needs. Every year they go over to distribute this largesse and make sure it all goes to the children who need it most. If you would like to sponsor one of my legs or even both of them a cheque made out to 'Children of Fiji' will do nicely. Send it to the PO Box. Thanks. Bonny.

The Highwaymens HeroesSome will boast of Turpin and his old nag Black bess,
That held up the Royal Mail and National Express,
But there's a married couple all highwaymen revere,
For years they robbed the wealthy without a sign of fear.
They came from foreign parts tis said, no one knows quite where,
He was handsome, she was too with looks beyond compare,
To trap their victims they would use a system quite unique,
One that needed lots of nerve and heaps of bare faced cheek.
When a coach was coming Anne would strip off all her clothes
And lay there helpless on the verge in a seductive pose,
No driver could resist this, they'd stop to gawp and leer
Until her husband, Stanley, shoved a pistol in their ear.

For years this scheme worked perfectly until they tried to score
With a passing coachman whose eyes were very poor,
Annie died there instantly, her charms spread far and wide
And loving Stanley shot himself and fell down at her side.
From that day on all highwaymen, braving guns and whips
Have had their heroes names forever on their lips,
Saying, 'Please do stop your coach,' won't set hearts a quiver,
What does the trick is hollering, 'Stan 'n' Anne de Liver!'